Dumbledore, Gandalf To Wed Across From Westboro Baptist Church

Two male wizard characters from
Hollywood films will marry across from the Westboro Baptist Church on
Sunday.

The event, titled Wizards Wed at the
WBC, was inspired by a series of tweets by author JK Rowling.

After Ireland became the first nation
to legalize marriage equality through a referendum, Rowling called
the vote “wonderful” and proposed that Albus Dumbledore, the
headmaster of Harry Potter's Hogwarts, could now marry
Gandalf, from the Lord of the Rings franchise, in Ireland.

“So @jk_rowling wants Dumbledore &
Gandalf to marry in Ireland; if it happens, WBC will picket,”
tweeted the Westboro Baptist Church, which is best known for coining
the phrase “God hates fags.”

“.@WBCsigns Alas, the sheer
awesomeness of such a union in such a place would blow your tiny
bigoted minds out of your thick sloping skulls,” Rowling responded.

When a few fans criticized Rowling,
saying that she was giving the church free publicly, she answered: “I
don't care about WBC. I think it's important that scared gay kids
who aren't out yet see hate speech challenged.”

Sunday's ceremony will take place at
Equality House, the rainbow-painted house owned by Aaron Jackson's
charity Planting Peace that sits across from the Westboro Baptist
Church. Planting Peace runs anti-bullying campaigns out of the
house.

“When we read the battle between J.K.
Rowling and the Westboro Baptist Church, we instantly connected with
Ms. Rowling's message on many levels,” Jackson said in a statement.
“The Equality House was founded to take a stand against the
hurtful words and actions of hate groups like the WBC. People often
question why we even mention them, and Ms. Rowling's words were spot
on. We must actively stand up to hate and ensure that LGBTQ youth
understand that they have a broad platform of love and support in
this world. That is a core part of what we do at Planting Peace. We
are delighted to be hosting the Dumbledore and Gandalf wedding and
stand with them in the face of bigotry and celebrate equality for
all. The WBC won't have to go too far to picket this union. They
can look out their front window.”